We are all rowing the boat of fate
by The Godess Freya
Summary: A lone shinigami is captured by Aizen for her demonic powers. What will happen when she's thrown together with an arrogant espada? A Grimmjow/OC pairing.


"Stupid iPod. You never work, do you, you miserable son of a bitch?" I growled at the piece of machinery, hoping to glare it into submission. I was walking home from a late study group held at school, but my iPod had decided this was the perfect time to fail. Just when I wanted to relax too.

I mean, there were some strange things going on around here lately. I'd been seeing…things. Weird creatures if you will. They all varied in shape, size, and species, but all of them wore a white mask. Don't think I can't see Kurosaki running around with a huge sword strapped to his back. It's kinda hard to miss and kinda hard to ignore, ya know? Plus, having to deal with that stupid Uryuu, who was always too perceptive of his own good, following every move I made didn't help matters much. Him and his bow. Chad had some powers of his own as well. He could morph his arm into this type of attack, which vaguely reminded me of Uryuu's arrows. Don't ask me why.

I jumped as I heard huge crashes coming my way. I shielded my eyes, but whatever was coming passed by me and slammed into a guardrail. I took a peek and saw a "ditch" in the middle of the concrete street. My jaw dropped. What had this kind of power? Do I want to find out? I glanced towards the guardrail and saw Kurosaki sprawled out, his whole body bloody. His half-lidded eyes widened just a fraction as he recognized me.

"Ichigo?" I asked, not believing this to be him. He was the strongest person I knew, besides Chad of course, and whatever had done this to him must have been powerful.

"Michiru?" he asked before snapping back to reality. "Michiru, run. Don't look back. Run." He struggled to stand and I ran to him, dropping my iPod in the process. I pulled him to his feet. He pushed me away as he gained his footing and I fell backwards out of this crater. "What did I tell you?"

"Well sorry for helping," I immediately shot back. The dust around us began to clear and I felt the presence of a powerful being. It didn't seem hollow, but then again, it was much stronger than anything I've felt before. The thing was slowly walking towards us and I was surprised to see it was human. My gaze drifted lower until I saw the whole in his stomach. It was a hollow! The blue haired hollow coming towards us sported a sadistic grin along with a peculiar outfit I'd never seen before. He also had a white jaw of a hollow mask on the right side of his face. I felt another shove from Ichigo and swapped my gaze between the two men. "You better be alive tomorrow, Ichigo, or I swear, I'll kill you myself and haunt you for the rest of your days as a spirit."

"Haunting a spirit? Are you serious?" I grinned at him once before heeding his advice and running the opposite direction from the hollow person. Unfortunately, the hollow-man stood in front of me, using the speed technique I'd seen from the shinigami. Well fuck. I reacted immediately, throwing a punch to the thing's stomach and following with a kick to the head. He caught my foot and smirked at me, as if daring me to go on. I spun in the air, using the hold on my foot as an advantage. He disappeared, using the technique, and using a wild guess, I spun and kicked the spot behind me. It caught the thing's chin and I took this chance to run. Ichigo, apparently recovered, appeared between the two of us as I made my escape. The hollow didn't want any of this and stopped me with a hand to my throat.

"Ichigo…" I muttered. "Why am I always getting into your issues?" I blindly kicked at the thing before it caught my ankle. Using pressure points I'd learned, I hit a nerve in his arm, causing him to drop me. I flipped over behind Ichigo and muttered, "Who is that guy? Stupid idiot keeps attacking me."

"I can see that," Ichigo muttered. "His name isn't important." I glared at Ichigo. "Now I want you to run."

"Hasn't that what I've been trying to do for the past few minutes?" It was Ichigo's turn to glare.

"Can't you be a normal girl for once and stop mouthing off? Geez, I'm trying to protect you, you idiot." Another hollow landed beside Ichigo, except this one was normal. I could handle this one. I laid a hand on Ichigo's shoulder.

"You go and concentrate on nameless-hollow-dude." I cracked my knuckles. "I can handle this one. Then, I'll run. Okay?" Before he could say anything, I pulled a candy dispenser out of my pocket. Ichigo whirled on my and pointed an accusing finger in my direction.

"That's where my soul candy went!" I smiled innocently before popping one in my mouth. I popped out in soul reaper form and laughed at the look on Ichigo's face. Ignoring him for the moment, I turned to my body.

"Go get my iPod from hell and just go home. And don't do my homework. You flunked me last time." The thing saluted me before doing as it was told. "Man, if I could get a dog to do that…" The hollow I'd temporarily forgotten about whipped its tongue toward me. I pulled out a small dagger from the waist of my clothing and sidestepped to avoid the oncoming attack. I proceeded to slice off the hollow's tongue before using shunpo and slicing its mask in half. "Done. I'll see you later, Ichigo!" I called out, waving. The hollow man appeared in front of me again.

"Who are you?" it asked me, with a voice that sent shivers through me. The thing misinterpreted this as fear and stepped closer. I crossed my arms over my chest and held my ground.

"I believe I asked you that first." It chuckled at my audacity, and the combination of a smirk and smile made delicious shivers crawl down my spine.

"My name is Grimmjow."

"Michiru. Now let me go."

"No."

"Well, don't you want to fight Ichigo?" Grimmjow's eyes immediately went to Ichigo, giving me the split second I needed to escape. I used shunpo again to dash from roof to roof, leading away from my house. I didn't want him to know where I live. My feet stopped as I felt another powerful presence; it was so much more powerful that Grimmjow's. Immediately, I knew that the fight with Ichigo had stopped and I bounded back towards my orange haired companion. I knew a bit of healing from watching Rukia heal, but I knew I could help a bit. I made it back in time to see Grimmjow walking into a rift in the sky. The man he was with, Tousen I believe, stopped and turned to face me. My hand immediately went to my sword.

"Bring her. Aizen-sama has expressed an interest in her." Grimmjow looked back to me and I pulled out my sword and letting it rest loosely by my side. Ichigo, who looked worse for wear, glared at me for returning.

"Well, your reiatsu was getting weak. I'm not gonna let your ass die on me." Grimmjow made a move to get me, but Tousen stopped him.

"You won't be able to fight her." He drew his own sword, softly saying his initial release. I wasn't expecting it, so I passed out.

******************

I woke to find myself being carried. I was over Grimmjow's shoulder like a bag of potatoes and I didn't like it that much. He glanced at me and saw that I was awake. In reaction, he dropped me and I landed on my feet. I spared him a mild glare before walking behind Tousen. We entered a doorway which brought us into a hall of hollow-men. My gaze landed on a blond. And hollow-women, apparently. She seemed to be the only one, though.

"Welcome," the brown haired man on the throne greeted. Grimmjow and Tousen stood on either side of me and I knew that this man, Aizen, wasn't to be fucked with. Even I couldn't hope to match him. "I have heard of your…interesting talents."

"Which ones?" I replied arrogantly, trying not to be afraid. A smile graced Aizen's lips. Oh, he knew I was shaking in my boots.

"Your bankai, for example." Ah, my utterly weird bankai. "Why don't you show it to us?" I looked around the room and shrugged. Why not? I stepped forward, drawing my sword. It was a simple katana, nothing to even boast with, but I knew its real worth. Behind me, I knew Grimmjow was highly interested. If Aizen was interested in me, it would probably mean a good fight for him. I pointed my sword at the throne with my right hand and turned so my right side faced the same way as the sword.

"Burn Hellfire." The once silver sword turned red as the spirit ribbons behind it turned into flame. As my sword prepared, I held it over my head with both of my hands and spread my feet shoulder length apart. "Ban…kai" An explosion of reiatsu burst from my body as my once dormant powers flared to life. My sword became pure fire and my clothes changed into a corset-shirt and tight pants. A choker appeared on my neck, a blood red ruby in the middle of it. My once brown hair turned red from roots to tip to match the new clothes and my incisors lengthened an inch. My transformation complete, I held the sword by my side, waiting for Aizen's next move. The hollow-people around me were in awe, also some of the high power ones stiffened.

"Now, use your powers." I scratched my head.

"I kinda got to be in battle for that one." Aizen gestured at Grimmjow and he stepped forward. "Am I allowed to kill him?" Hopefully Aizen wouldn't realize I had an attraction to Grimmjow. Who knows what he would use it for?

"No."

"You take the fun outta life, you know that?" Tousen stepped out of the new battlefield and I waited for Grimmjow to at least draw his sword. "Aren't you going to fight me?" Grimmjow held out his hand, a cero blast already formed. He launched it and I swiped at it with my sword, causing it to split into two and pass me by. "Pitiful. Fight me." My irises began to turn red as my full powers reached their peak. Grimmjow finally reached for his sword, but Aizen stopped us.

"Summon them." I sighed, but complied. I used shunpo and nicked Grimmjow's arm before he could get away. I licked the blood off of the red sword and smeared the rest on my right hand. I sliced open my left forefinger and mixed the blood together, completing the slightly sadistic ritual.

"I summon you, maester!" The reaction was instantaneous. The gates of hell rose from the ground, with me on top. A fire monster stepped out, leaving the onlookers surprised. It was black skinned with patches of fiery lava like material spread over his skin. In his right hand, he held a fire sword, in his left, a fire whip. I flipped down to stand with my maester and looked at Aizen.

"A maester?" one of the hollow-people asked. I nodded once to them. It simply stood by me, waiting for my command. Aizen smiled at the creature before nodding once to me.

I am sorry, but you won't be able to fight today. The man doesn't want me to kill Grimmjow.

Why don't you kill them both?

Don't you feel it? We could never stand a chance.

You are right, sister-kin. I will listen to you.

Thank you.

The maester stepped back into the gates and they closed behind him, leaving me alone with the hollow-people.

"Anything else?" I asked, not rudely, but not nicely either.

"I want you to train the espada." I cocked my head to this one.

"Eh?"

"The people you see here are espada. Yet there are only ten of them." With a guess, I figured that the strongest were the espada. "They are ranked according to power." My gaze flicked over to Grimmjow, looking to see which number he was. "He's number 6." I smirked at him, my gaze flickering with something I didn't want to name at the time.

"Number 6?" My smirk took a bit of a sadistic nature. "That's my favorite number."

"Well, he will show you to your room, then." I looked back to Aizen, sensing something fishy. He only smiled back at me, but I could tell that I shouldn't trust it. Grimmjow held back a growl, but turned away and started to walk. I tentatively looked at Aizen again and he gestured to follow. My bankai slowly faded, leaving me normal and I put away my sword in its sheath. My gaze returned to Grimmjow and I stared at his back, looking at the number partly visible by his unique jacket. As I watched him walk, I became fascinated by the way his muscles moved under his skin. I widened my view to include his whole body and saw the muscles in his arms. His muscles rippled under his skin as he walked...well, almost stalked. He moved fluidly, like a panther I had seen once.

I clamped down on my lustful thoughts, but my mind eventually went back into the gutter it so commonly occupied. That's when I noticed his hands. They were perfectly formed, callused by fighting, and I could feel them on me. God, this espada was so insanely hot to me! I felt a physical awareness in my body when he was near and knew I was a goner. I always had followed my instincts, and they were screaming to literally jump this espada where he stood, though I resisted the urge.

"Here." He opened the door and pretty much threw me into the room. My eyes still blazed with the prospect of my…lustful thoughts, so I kept my face averted from him. The door slammed shut and I heard the bolt slide into place.

Plus, being in this place filled with spirit energy was making my body sing. I hadn't felt this much power within me, and it was intoxicating. A pair of footsteps arrived at my door and I lifted my head, making sure my hair covered my eyes enough, and watched as it opened. Grimmjow and Gin entered.

"How are ya feeling today?" Gin asked. I watched him warily. Why did he want to know? "Well, Aizen wants an espada with ya at all times. Grimmjow here's gonna be your first. Ya might as well train him, seeing as you'll be together."

"Fine," I muttered, not looking at either men. "I'll train him."

"I don't need a girl to train-"

"Done. I'll see you two later." Grimmjow growled at the interruption and sent a death glare at Gin, who ignored it. He closed the door behind him and I heard the lock click into place.

"I doubt a lock can keep you in here," I stated. Grimmjow stalked to the door and turned it once. Of course, the knob didn't turn, and he whirled away, glaring angrily at me. "Don't look at me," I said, finally meeting his gaze. "I didn't do it. He did."

"Why they want a girl like you to train me is ridiculous."

"Why you're such a dick about this is what's ridiculous," I shot back, walking over to the couch and flopping down. I drapped one leg over the top of the couch and stretched the other one, getting comfortable. "I don't have to train you. He merely suggested it."

"And what could you teach me?" Grimmjow snarled, prowling the front of the room.

"Manners, for one," I muttered, although that wasn't entirely the case. I loved the blunt, male way he acted, and god knows, I loved the arrogance shining through his personality. It made him so...male. I never had wanted sensative. I wanted a man! I'd take a fight over a mere discussion any day. It made the making up oh so better.

"I don't need-"

"Oh shut up, I know you don't." I sighed and relaxed, closing my eyes. "I don't need a damn bodyguard either, so we both got screwed. How about we call a truce. I promise not to be a rabid bitch and you won't be a bastard. Sound fair?" I heard him laugh once and knew he was smirking.

"A rabid bitch?"

"Don't get down to earth much, do you?" I withheld any comment I could have made, trying to adhere to our agreement. The sooner I got to sleep, the sooner I wouldn't be cranky. It was quiet for a few moments and I began to drift off.

"Are you a shinigami?" Grimmjow's question startled me back into semi-wakefullness and I groaned.

"Not exactly. I have a demon living inside of me," I answered, curling onto my side into a ball.

"Don't you mean hollow?"

"No, I mean demon," I countered. "I was born with a demon inside of me, and through her I became a shinigami."

"Shouldn't you be in hell?"

"No, I'll go to Ragonkai. I didn't choose to have the damn thing inside of me, therefore I'm not responsible. Plus, I already defeated her in battle, so I can use her powers for good, exonerating myself. So hah." I settled back into sleep mode and I dropped off, ignoring Grimmjow and my attraction to him completely.

*************************

"Come, onna." I woke to a new male voice and I realized the crazy dream I had dreamt last night was indeed real. So much for illusions. I stretched and spotted the apathetic espade from before. He gestured to me and I followed the Espada out of my room like a lost puppy. He didn't turn around or give me so much of a second glance to see if I was following, but I felt his reiatsu. He was powerful and probably didn't need the visual to see if I was following.

"What's your name?" I asked after a few moments of silence. There was a slight pause before he answered,

"Ulquiorra."

"What number?"

"Four." I made a small noise to show I heard him, but he stopped at a door. I felt the other Espada in the room and knew that I was going to be training them today. We stepped inside and I felt all eyes land on my form. Tousen stepped up to me.

"You will be training them today, as you are aware." I nodded once. "You will train them with your bankai." Again, I nodded. "I will also be watching, in case of any mishaps." He then used shunpo and sat on a ledge overlooking me. I drew my sword and went into shikai. I felt Grimmjow to my right, his stare branding me.

"I can take you!" one of the Espada claimed as he stepped forward. I recognized him as one of the ones who attacked Ichigo. "I am Yami! Number ten of the Espada." He focused reiatsu into his hand and shot it at me. My spirit ribbons wrapped around my right arm and I lifted my sword towards the oncoming attack.

"Dispel," I murmured. The fire from the ribbons transferred from to the sword and shot out towards the attack, dissipating it easily. I toned it down so it wouldn't hit Yami. I wanted to see his true power.

"Enough. I want a rematch." Grimmjow leapt to the ground and stood in front of me. I saw the battle-happy light in his gaze and knew that I was making progress. He no longer saw of me as a pathetic girl, he was beginning to see me as a warrior, and soon, a woman. I would make sure of that.

"Why aren't you guys drawing your swords?" I asked quietly.

"Aizen-sama's orders," Tousen answered from his lofty perch. I nodded once. He wouldn't want me to escape and know all of their abilities, would he? Yami, however, was a little pissed at Grimmjow for interrupting us and sent a high-powered cero blast his way. Grimmjow, on the other hand, focused a greater attack and aimed it at Yami. I sighed and shook my head in exasperation.

"Men," I muttered. I used shunpo to knock Yami out of the way and held out my hand. The cero split into two, leaving me unharmed. Since Grimmjow was in the middle of the pack, I was going to gauge out his power and see where the others were in strength. "Yami, don't antagonize him." Yami glared at me and raised his hand again to attack, but I had enough. I used shunpo to put my sword up to his throat. His eyes widened at my speed. "I said, enough, Yami. I'll train you once I see how strong Grimmjow is. Then, I'll see where you are to estimate what I need to do. Got it?" I withdrew my sword and turned back to the smirking Grimmjow. "I know I'll need bankai with you," I murmured before going into my stance. "Ban…kai." Once my transformation was complete, I held the sword to my side.

"Come on onna. Let's fight."

"First, I want you to send me the most powerful cero blast you can." He bristled at my orders, but complied.

"Can you survive it?" I scoffed at him and he released his attack. My hand went to the ruby at my neck and I closed my eyes. The other Espada looked on as the attack hit my body, yet I didn't move. I opened my eyes. They finally saw the reason behind it; my purple shield shimmered before it faded entirely.

"Interesting. It is powerful, Grimmjow. But we'll work on it."

"Like you can do any better." I smiled at him and touched my ruby again while holding my sword in Grimmjow's direction.

"Art of the Devil: Cero blast." My ruby flared a blood red light as the attack formed from my sword. I launched it at Grimmjow, who barely blocked it with a tiny blast of his own. He stood, panting and glaring at me. "Fire's kiss." One of my flaming spirit ribbons detached itself from my sword and floated over to Grimmjow. "Stay still, Grimmjow." The ribbon reached him and wrapped itself around the wound on his stomach. It then unwrapped and floated back to me, leaving Grimmjow healed.

"What the hell was that?"

"My version of a cero blast. This power comes from the demon inside of me. The ruby on my neck is a gift from my demon's master; he gave it to me for harboring the one inside of me. It helps me with some attacks and defense." Grimmjow disappeared and reappeared beside of me, yanking the choker off of my neck. I glared at him.

"Now what?" he asked with a victorious smirk.

"Art of the Devil: Cero blast!" I yelled out, a bit pissed that he would touch the gift. The attack came again, this time, even more powerful than the last. This caused Grimmjow to drop the choker and I grabbed it. "You think that I would tell you a weakness? The choker helps me not to kill you. If I fight without it, I cannot hold back my attacks." I held my sword up at Grimmjow. "Demon's embrace." The spirit ribbons undid themselves from my sword and slid into the ground. "Gotcha," I sweetly sang as Grimmjow lunged toward me, a cero blast in his hand. He stopped inches from my face. As his face turned to confusion, I pointed downward. His gaze traveled down until he saw the spirit ribbons tied around his body.

"What?" he cried out.

"Their use is not only for healing, Grimmjow." I skimmed his mask with one finger and turned away from him. "Who is next?" Even though I was human, I felt the slight arousal from him and I grinned.

"No more." I looked towards Tousen. "Practice unarmed combat." I nodded once and called back my ribbons, releasing Grimmjow. They attached and I released my bankai, turning myself normal again. "I assume you can fight?"

"Of course," I stated, insulted. Why would I learn swordfighting and not unarmed combat? I wasn't stupid.

"Then fight the number one espada," Tousen ordered. "Prove yourself."

"I don't gotta prove shit," I muttered, but saw Grimmjow smirk out of the corner of my eyes. It made me smirk in return as the number one espada walked forward. I settled into horse stance and prepared to fight.

*************

A week later, I was in my room once again, bored witless. This place had no television, no computer, no video games...nothing. I was locked in this dratted room with only myself to amuse...well, myself. God, if Aizen was trying to drive me insane, he picked the best way to do it. I felt someone coming toward the door and I began to jump with excitement. I didn't care who it was, just that it was someone that I could annoy and therefore amuse myself with. I saw Gin open the door and Grimmjow walked in behind him, his hands in his pockets. Almost instinctively, my eyes locked onto his lean muscled abs and traveled to his toned chest, then to his face.

"See you!" Gin said wth a wave before locking the door. In relief, I lauched myself onto Grimmjow's back and clung to him like an extra appendage.

"Oh thank you god! Aizen's trying to drive me batshit, I'm sure of it-"

"Get off of me," Grimmjow growled out, swatting at me with his right arm.

"Not on your life. I've been cooped up here for hours. I have to have something to do or I'm gonna go crazy. Fortunately, Gin dumped you in my room, so you're the new candidate."

"Candidate for what?" he asked, grabbing my ankle and holding me upside down. This gave me a birds eye view up his small shirt and I grinned. Not only could I see his body, but the strength it took to hold me up was amazing. I then latched onto his arm and smiled at him.

"For amusing me. For the next few hours, you're my bitch."

"I'm not anyone's bitch," he snarled, slinging me towards the wall. I flipped in the air and landed horizontally, my feet indenting into the wall. I used my position to launch myself back at him and managed to grab him. I grasped his waist with my legs and held his shirt in both of my hands.

"For the love of god, AMUSE ME! I don't care what, anything! I am going to go crazy!" I accentuated my plight by shaking Grimmjow lightly by the hold on his shirt. When Grimmjow went to throw me again, I leaped backward, landing in a crouch on the couch. "So, Grimmjow," I asked, darting around the room, using shunpo to release my pent up energy. "How did you become an espada? Huh huh huh huh?"

"Shut up," he snarled, unsheathing his sword and slicing at me when I came too close. I took that as an avid invitation and drew out my own sword.

"Oh come on, it's a valid question. I ask one, you ask one." I sprang at him and he blocked, bringing our faces perilously close.

"Fine. I became an espada because I was strong. How did you become so powerful?"

"Beat the demon inside of me." We jumped at each other, each blocking and parrying, not really fighting, more like playing. "You ever had sex?"

"What?" he asked, clearly taken aback.

"What, you don't know what sex is? Well, when a man loves a woman-"

"I know what sex is, onna. Why the hell should you care?" he asked, his voice missing its usual bite. He threw me back with a block and I sprang at him again, slicing from above.

"Because you're hot, I'm bored, and I'm prying into your personal life for kicks and giggles. Now tell me." I used shunpo and appeared behind him, but he already expected it and blocked me.

"Yes, I have. Have you?"

"Yup," I answered simply. I saw rage flit across Grimmjow's face and I wondered. Was he jealous? Strangely, a purely feminine response inside of me was turned on and wanted him to be jealous of me. Even though I knew it was wrong, I was honest enough with myself to realize that if this man ever wanted to take me to bed, I'd go willingly, consequences be damned. "What's your fantasy?" I asked him, blocking him once more. Instead of jumping away, he pushed me into the wall. His blade pressed into my cheek, drawing blood, but I was too focused on his face to care.

"I don't need a damned fantasy," he muttered, before grabbing the hair on the back of my head and crushing his lips against mine. The act had me melting against him, responding to the kiss with equal fervor. Our swords dropped to the ground, forgotten, our foreplay over.

"Why did you do that?" I asked him, dazed.

"Because I take what I want. And I want you, onna. You're mine now."

"Well, then you're mine!" I countered, the control of the situation rapidly slipping through my fingers.

"Fine. Then, this will be our little secret."

"What will-" He cut me off with his lips once again, nearly throwing me to the ground in anticipation. I watched as a predatory smirk slid onto his face and his eyes darken with desire and I knew that whatever would come of this relationship, whatever trouble this would cause us, I wouldn't care. Then the shirt came off, revealing the upper half of his body. I thanked whatever fates threw our lives together and reached for him.

Nope. I wouldn't mind a damn bit. For here, now, this was what I wanted. For now, there was no upcoming battle to save the world. There was no good or evil. There was just me and Grimmjow...and our time today. I knew this would probably come back to bite me in the ass, but I had never wanted anything more than I had this. Nothing at all.


End file.
